An Immortal Magic
by Cariah Delonne
Summary: HarryPotterLabyrinth crossover. There are some in the wizarding world who are not impressed with a girl making it through the Labyrinth. The resulting combination of magic she gains is unpredictable at best. Please R&R!
1. Odd Acquaintances

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Any characters out of Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson, and the Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling. 

**An Immortal Magic  
**By Cariah Delonne

**Chapter 1**

"You have no power over me…" Sarah stated in realization.

The crystal burst, shattered, sending the mortal back into reality. In his owl form, Jareth swept around the room before disappearing into the night. He stopped only for a moment outside her window before he left, returning to the Labyrinth defeated. He swore when he saw who waited for him. 

"We had an agreement…" the man drawled. Jareth surveyed his visitor from the black ermine coat to his long blonde hair. 

"We did Lucius," he stated, "But what's done is done." 

Lucius Malfoy's scowl deepened. "No mortal who passed through these walls was ever meant to return. _You _just let one go. There will be those in the wizarding world who will not approve _at all_." 

"Like I said Lucius," Jareth replied, "What's done is done. I did everything I could to keep her from returning." Inwardly, he cringed at what he had offered her only minutes ago. Outwardly, his face remained a cool mask of indifference. 

"As if Hogwarts isn't filled with enough Mudbloods already," Lucius continued, "Without other Kingdoms causing more to be thrust into the wizarding world!" 

Jareth laughed harshly. "This will be no ordinary mudblood. She may have gained magic, and therefore entrance to Hogwarts by entering my Labyrinth, but by defeating it, she gained some of the Labyrinth's own." Lazily, he tossed Lucius a crystal. 

Malfoy's lip curled in distaste. "I am not fond of Divination, Jareth." 

The Goblin King just smirked. "Take a look." 

Arrogantly, disbelievingly, Malfoy looked into the crystal, to see a young girl sitting on her bed, surrounded by Jareth's subjects. _She looks harmless, _Malfoy thought, _But__ the Labyrinth has never been beaten before. Let alone Jareth. _"So this is the mortal?" he asked carelessly, conveniently forgetting that he too, did not possess immortality. Jareth merely nodded. 

Malfoy tossed the crystal back to Jareth, where it disappeared. The two began to walk out of the throne room, into a private sitting room overlooking the great maze. "Besides Malfoy," Jareth drawled, "She may not even be your problem. The American school of Witchcraft-" 

"Is run by a man who would not touch such a delicate case as hers with a yardstick, Only Dumbledore will be fool enough to take this girl." 

"Correct, Lucius," came a tired voice from the doorway. "Tell me, how did you surmise that?" 

"Professor Dumbledore…" Lucius said, caught off guard. 

Dumbledore waved him away with his hand. "Later Lucius. What happened here?" he addressed Jareth. 

"A girl conquered the Labyrinth," Jareth answered in bored tones, obviously sick of being questioned about how he chose to run his kingdom. Clearly, if he could have done more to stop her leaving he would have done so. He did not like his judgment being examined, especially within his own realm. 

"That much I guessed," replied Dumbledore. "How? This has never happened before." 

"No," agreed Jareth, becoming aggravated, "it has not. But I could do nothing else to stop her leaving. She beat the Labyrinth – she beat me at my own game. I am as surprised as you. As a prize, she reclaimed her baby brother, and gained some magic of her own." 

Dumbledore sighed. What's done was done. He twirled his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. What to do now? Tear her away from her family and the brother she had only just rescued? But she couldn't stay in the muggle world with untrained magic – especially with the chance that she had gained some of the Labyrinth's wild magic along the way. She would have to go to Hogwarts. She was four years late, but he did not doubt that a girl who could defeat the Labyrinth at fifteen, and turn Jareth's own subjects against him, would have little trouble settling in at Hogwarts. 

"People are often surprising Jareth," Dumbledore said wisely. "Of all the people who could have possibly beaten you within thirteen hours, a child-" 

Dumbledore did not finish the sentence. "Ten hours, Dumbledore," Jareth cut in. "I took three hours away." 

Lucius, still standing apart from the two, went pale. "A fifteen year old girl beat you in _ten hours_!" He was incredulous, "but the clock struck thirteen!" 

Jareth laughed hollowly. "Yes – I wound it forward when I felt she was getting too close – three hours to be exact. As I said, Professor, if I could have done more to stop her, I would have. She solved it in ten hours." 

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in amusement. The idea of Jareth, the Goblin King, being beaten at his own game was amusing enough – but by a child, in less than the allowed time…" he stifled a small smile. Children were surprising, but perhaps he had underestimated this one. 

Jareth saw the amusement in the Headmaster's eyes and scowled. It was not wise to anger the King on his own territory, even less in such a situation as this. 

"Good luck with her Dumbledore!" he called sourly after the disapparating Headmaster. 

Lucius too, soon departed, seeing the gleam of anger in Jareth's eyes – in no way did he want to be at the receiving end of his anger. 

"Damn her!" Jareth swore, throwing a crystal against the wall. It smashed, shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. 

*****

A/N: Umm… so do you like it? This scene came upon me in the middle of the night –and I might continue it, depends. I have a few ideas of where it might go, but it's time etc... and I still am working on my other fics… Please Review and tell me what you think!  
~Cariah. 


	2. Prefect

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. As usual. JK Rowling owns the wonderful world of Harry Potter and all its characters, as Jim Henson owns everything Labyrinth.

**An Immortal Magic  
**By Cariah Delonne.

**Chapter 2**

Sarah Williams looked down at the shiny badge in her hand, then out the window of her London apartment. Prefect. She was a school prefect.

Four years ago, she hardly thought she would make it through her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Five years ago, spells, wands and magic had been a part in her play-acting, a fantasy, a dream. She shook her head at the unbidden image that had crossed her mind after the last thought.

_"I can offer you your dreams…"_

"No power," she muttered, partly out of habit, partly to reassure herself.

---------------

_"Williams, Sarah," came the strict voice she would later learn belonged to Professor McGonagall. _

_Hesitantly, Sarah had stepped forward, knowing she was a full three to four years older than the rest of the first years. Eyebrows were raised, whispers traveled the length of the Great Hall and back, but no audible comment was made. Professor McGonagall passed her the sorting hat, and Sarah felt it fall softly over her ears as a voice filled her head. _

_"Ahhh… interesting.__ An immortal magic in a mortal body – unusual – and very difficult to place. Difficult indeed." _

_Sarah bleakly remembered all she had been told of each house, the general characteristic of it's occupants, and what she had read in Hogwarts, A History. Her heart clenched as the hat mused "Griffindor, or Slytherin?" One held a certain attraction to it, the other repulsed her. _

_"Griffindor will welcome you with open arms, defeating one such as Jareth takes great courage…" Sarah stiffened at his name, "But your talents will be welcome – most appreciated – in Slytherin," the hat continued, before returning to his reference towards the Goblin King. _

_"None before you defeated him, do you realize that? Unsurpassed. Despite your immortal magic, that alone claims you for GRIFFINDOR!" _

_--------------_

Sarah had recalled the sorting hats words to her often in the past four years. She remembered the hats interest in her "immortal magic", but she had never seen any evidence of anything that would recommend her to Slytherin.

She had never confided to anyone what had happened four years ago that gained her magic, not even her best friend Ginny Weasley. Four years Sarah's junior, Ginny came from a family of six brothers, all elder. Sarah was the same age as two of them, Fred and George, a pair of mischievous twins who "outgrew their formal education" part way through the previous school year.

Because of Sarah's late start at Hogwarts, she was just about to start her fifth year, despite turning 19 in November. It did not bother her. She had moved out of home the previous summer, in order to be closer to her school friends, and away from the pressures of her family.

She was still on good terms with her family – they kept in frequent contact, although Karen thought her schooling arrangements – indeed the entire concept of Hogwarts – rather unnecessary. Sarah also, despite being three years from finishing her schooling, felt she needed her space. She was a firm believer in standing on her own two feet, and she was quite prepared to take on that responsibility at the same age as she would have, had she been at any normal school in America.

Occasionally, her mind swept her back to her ordeal through the Labyrinth, and it's King. He was the cause of her current education; she knew it, although it was impossible to tell if it had been his intention to give her magic. Privately, she believed it had not been his intention – that he would have given much to stop her from leaving the Labyrinth – to stall her until the clock stuck thirteen. When she had been younger, it had crossed her mind that perhaps his words were true, that he had loved her, that he had meant his offer, but she rejected it, her mind coming up with a thousand proofs that confirmed his hatred of her.

By apparent coincidence, her flat was situated across the small square from Grimmauld Place, although at times she wondered if someone had set up her situation at this most convenient spot. Last summer, she had watched much of the goings-on from her studio window, and it was on a night in the middle of August that had led her to believe that perhaps it was not such a coincidence after all. Dumbledore had appeared in the square, on business in Grimmauld Place, but before he entered the dark musty hallway, he had looked around to see her small face looking out the window, and he had _winked_. Her mouth had twitched and she had closed the window, but could come to no probable conclusions aside from her first thought, that he _knew_ she was there – that he _wanted_ her to be there.

She wondered briefly if Dumbledore knew her secret. It had never occurred to her before receiving her badge. The sorting hat had recognized the origins of her magic – that was what it had been created for, after all. Dumbledore, on the other hand, rarely missed a beat, and it wouldn't have surprised her if he did indeed know, now that she thought about it. Surely too, the sorting hat would have passed on this interesting piece of information to the Headmaster. Perhaps her secret wasn't as unknown as she would have liked.

Prefect. She came out of her daydreams to stare again in disbelief at the badge in front of her. Despite the origins of her magic, he obviously thought she could be trusted as a prefect. The thought cheered her, and she took out a piece of parchment to tell her parents the news, beckoning her owl Amahl closer. She couldn't possible afford another toll call this month, despite the occasion.

A/N: Ok, here's another chapter – I was kind of overwhelmed by the number of reviews =D so I'm updating (and neglecting my other fanfics – again). There's not a lot of action here, and definitely not much Jareth, but plenty to come, if I get around to writing it…, which seems to be the main problem. (Fires arrow at muse) I've based it in present day Harry Potter, mainly because that's how I first imagined it, despite when the movie was made.

Thank you so much for all your reviews!! Thank you thank you thank you… please leave another! -   
Cariah.


	3. Crystals

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. As usual. JK Rowling owns the wonderful world of Harry Potter and all its characters, as Jim Henson owns everything Labyrinth.

**An Immortal Magic  
**By Cariah Delonne.

**Chapter 3**

Sarah looked out her window across Grimmauld Place once more, her eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness. The streetlamps had all inexplicably died, and a slight movement; a twist of the shadows on the opposite side of the square made her stop in her tracks.   
Harry Potter had moved into number 13 not long after the summer holidays had started, but movement in and out of the house was not limited to his own movements - others came and went at various times of the day and night, including the Weasley's who had stayed for most of the summer.

The movement again, smaller, the swish of a cloak or flick of a wand. Sarah scrabbled around in the darkness behind her for her wand, her mind working quickly. Strictly speaking, she shouldn't use magic – she _was _of age, and had passed her apparating test, but she still had three years left at Hogwarts, and had much left to learn. A tiny movement – the person that was outside was taking great pains to be undetected, and Sarah's eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, the streetlamps all flickered back into life, and a man stood in the square – not prying around number 13 as she had supposed, but staring straight up into her window. She gasped and ice-cold air filled her lungs, but in a blink of the eye, he was gone, leaving her with a tiny doubt in her mind – had he really been there at all?

..................................................................

Walking through Kings Cross Station, avoiding the wary looks of muggles eyeing her large trunk and owl, Sarah pondered the question. Had she really seen him? She was sure she had – his arrogant smirk and untamed hair – but why would he be standing outside her window? Surely he had no business here – and he certainly had no business stalking her! "No power_…_" she whispered again, habit flooding through her.

_Are you sure about that?_

"What?"

"Sarah – are you okay?" Ginny said, catching up to her in the station. "I've been calling to you for _ages_!"

"Oh – oh, yes – I'm fine," Sarah assured her young friend as they neared platform 9 and 3/4.   
"Did you have a good summer? Ours was pretty scary – now that everybody knows of course. We stayed…" Ginny trailed off quickly, before continuing, "…but I didn't see you – were you working all summer?"

Sarah smiled, letting Ginny continue chatting as she made noises to show she was listening, at least with half an ear, most of the time.

Surely, he couldn't have been there – in _London_, of all places. Aboveground for a start… didn't he have an entire kingdom to run? Why was he meddling in mortal affairs?   
Was he even concerned with mortal affairs – surely it could be no coincidence that the King of the Goblins was standing outside headquarters against the most feared wizard in a century – containing the boy who had previously been that wizard's downfall… A chill started to seep into Sarah's bones. Surely, he wouldn't be in a partnership with You-know-who, or even communicating with him – would he?

Faces slipped past her in the station as they waited a safe distance from platform nine and three-quarters until the coast was clear.

A flash of long blonde hair slid by Sarah, who whipped her head around. There was no-one there, but as she turned back, another strand of blonde caught her eye – for an instant, she thought she saw a pair of mismatched eyes, but they were gone before she could be sure.

"Sarah?" Ginny's worried voice carried through to her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied distractedly, "Lets get on the train."

Looking through worried eyes, Ginny followed her friend towards the platform, and together they broke into a run, sliding through to the other side easily.

Ginny waved goodbye to her parents and brothers as they pulled away from the station a few minutes later, and Sarah felt a pang of sorrow that there had been no-body to see her off, just as there hadn't been except for her first year, when her father came to make sure she got on the train the first time.

One more time, she glanced out the window as the train pulled out of the station, to see a man standing there, wild blonde hair and arrogant smirk, mismatched eyes looking unmistakably, directly, at _her_.

Sarah let out a small cry of horror, and once more he was gone. Ginny turned sharply to her friend, and at the same time the door of the compartment opened to admit Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter.   
"Sarah, you're supposed to be…" Harry stopped at the look on her face and the words "up front with the rest of the prefects" trailed away into the silence.

Sarah didn't ask how he knew she was a prefect – she assumed Ginny had told him – or Ron – and she was more worried about other things at the moment.

The man – that was unmistakably Jareth – her mind couldn't claim hallucinations any more…  
Growling in frustration, Sarah clenched her hands as she glared out the window. Without thinking, she summoned a crystal and threw it at the door, where it smashed into a thousand pieces like a bubble, and an instant later, the hole in the floor where the tracks below them could be seen, closed itself up.

The stunned silence around her brought Sarah to her senses. "Wha… what did I do?" she muttered.

"You… um… well, I think you conjured a crystal…" Ginny said softly, "… and then you smashed it… it's gone now…"

Sarah was staring at Ginny, alarm visible in her eyes. "A… crystal…?" Without waiting for a reply, she stared listlessly at her hand, and at her will, another appeared.

_An immortal magic in a mortal body…_

Jareth is immortal…

_…your talents will be welcome – most appreciated – in Slytherin…_

Jareth uses crystals…

_…None before you defeated him…_

No-one else… oh dear…

_Immortal magic… unsurpassed…_

Jareth….

Sarah's eyes went wide, before she suppressed her fear, and turned to her friends.   
"I have to go get my instructions from the Head Boy and Girl… I'll be back soon…" she muttered, getting up shakily and leaving her friends looking at her blankly, worried expressions on their faces.

She needed to think, she needed to figure out why, suddenly, Jareth had reappeared, why she could conjure crystals. At the last thought, she looked perplexedly at the perfect sphere in her hand, before vanishing it and continuing, much shaken and confused, to the front of the train.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? I've been neglecting all my fanfics lately… I know, not good, but they'll get there. :) Please leave a review, they really help me, and encourage me to keep going. :)   
Thank you to all the people who have reviewed =D  
Ta, Cariah.


	4. The Hogwarts Express

**Disclaimer:** _Sighs and recites monotonously:_ Nothing – I own nothing… JK Rowling owns the wonderful world of Harry Potter and all its characters, and Jim Henson owns everything Labyrinth.

**An Immortal Magic  
**By Cariah Delonne.

**Chapter 4**

Ginny and Harry exchanged significant looks as Sarah disappeared out into the corridor. Luna sat down and dreamily stared out the window, humming a slow haunting tune.  
"What was that all about?"  
They shrugged, and Neville tried to comprehend what he had just seen. "Did you see – she just opened up the floor with a bubble..." he looked at the floor warily, as if afraid the hole would suddenly reappear. "A shiny bubble…" he babbled almost incoherently, sitting down and continuing to stare at the same spot.  
"…bubble…"

"Neville?" said Harry nervously, "Are you okay?"  
"…bubble…"  
Luna's insistent humming continued, slow and mournful. Annoyed, Harry looked towards her and rolled his eyes as she stared out the window, a distinct aura of dottiness surrounding her. He caught Ginny's eye and was surprised to see her shaking with laughter at his exasperation. Harry turned away from Luna, having become used to her vacant manner long ago, and returned his gaze to Neville, who was also staring into space.

"Neville, it's not that odd really – she probably just conjured it…" even as Ginny said it, she realized that wasn't what had happened. Sarah hadn't said a word – she hadn't even given any indication of doing magic – she hadn't even had her wand. Sure, she was powerful, but she was only in her fifth year…

"…bubble…"  
Luna stopped humming, and looked around the room as if surprised to see herself in a compartment with three other people. She titled her head on the side and regarded Harry, Neville and Ginny before resuming her vacant staring out the window. Ginny looked a little nonplussed for a moment, before resuming her conversation with Harry and Neville.

"It doesn't make sense," Harry protested. "Even if she had conjured a bubble, it wouldn't create a hole in the floor – would it?"  
"Bubbles don't do that." Neville said, still trying to make sense of the situation. "I've made plenty of bubbles – Gran bought me magic bubble mix once, so that they didn't pop, but I spilt it on Trevor and he was trapped in a bubble until Uncle Algie came to help get him out. But those bubbles didn't make holes in things…"

"It wasn't a bubble," said Luna unexpectedly, "It was a crystal. When you first saw it you said it was a crystal and that's what it was."  
Ginny shook her head. "But Luna… a crystal would have left shards of glass-" Neville looked at the floor alarmed, "-and there _isn't _any there, Neville."  
"Maybe we were mistaken when we only thought it was a crystal," said Harry, "Ginny's right, there's nothing there."

Luna cocked her head to the side and smiled dreamily, before looking back out the window as they sped out of the London suburbs and into the countryside.

* * *

Hermione, Ron and Sarah returned to the compartment some time later, when the conversation had long since turned away from what had happened at King's Cross and moved onto other subjects. Quidditch had seen them through a large portion of the journey, from the current winners of the League, the Tornados, to the Chudley Cannons, who it seemed were not only fanatically followed by Ron, but Ginny too. When the prefects returned, the conversation moved towards Hogwarts, the familiar walls, passages and paintings, the lessons and classes. 

Inevitably, Lord Voldemort and the Order of Phoenix became the focus. Harry hadn't divulged the contents of the prophecy yet to Hermione or Ron, and he didn't feel comfortable revealing it in front of so many people. The words had resounded though his head all summer – he found it hard to forget the shimmering form of Professor Trelawney revolving around the Pensieve, her voice harsh and disturbing. There was no doubt it was him, Professor Dumbledore had been adamant – there was no mistake, there had never been a mistake. The thought that he was being guided by prophecy was a chilling thought that again, he had not been able to escape. Brooding, he stared thoughtfully into space.

The compartment was quite quiet – the lunch trolley had long since come and gone, and everyone was contentedly full. Sarah looked among the faces of her friends, from Hermione and Ron, deep in an argument they were obviously trying to contain in whispers; Ginny and Luna, both thoughtfully watching the countryside fly past; Harry, once again lost in his own thoughts, and Neville trying his best not to meet her eyes.

Neville's avoidance of her gaze made her mind return to the incident at King's Cross. Never before had she ever conjured a crystal, and she had only ever met one man who could. She didn't know if wizarding laws allowed crystals to be conjured, and almost as soon as she considered the thought, she abolished it. She hadn't conjured it – she had used no wand, she had muttered nothing, and besides, conjuring was a NEWT level skill – and one that at just entering her OWL year, she had not yet come across in any form.

No – crystals was a form of magic – an immortal form - Jareth's form of magic. He gained his power, his magic from those crystals, and she had seen the power they had too many times to doubt its existence. It worried her however, that only days after she had thought she had seen Jareth outside her apartment, she created a crystal – and she _had _seen him at the station, there could be no doubting it.

His title, King of the Goblins, was also worrying her. She did not know if the goblins of Jareth's realm were the same as those found in the wizarding world – Gringott's goblins had joined the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort, would Jareth lead the Underground to war? Orwould he ignore them completely – a mere mortal affair, nothing to concern himself with? Sarah couldn't believe it – that he could be indifferent – oh, that she could well believe, but would he be able to stop himself meddling in mortal affairs? He had proven five years ago that he did not mind meddling in other's business – in fact, he had seemed to relish it, delighting in her mistakes and faults. Would he be the same now? Unable to resist a jibe at the mortal world, so close to destruction?

Sarah shook her head to clear it of the thoughts welling up in her head, and looked once more at her companions, now discussing animatedly the possibilities in the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.  
"Not Snape – please not Snape…" said Ron.  
"We've been lucky so far," observed Harry.

The door to the compartment slid open, and three burly figures framed the doorway. Draco Malfoy was at the head of the group, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" said a frustrated Ginny, "You're rather blocking the light."  
Malfoy's gaze hardened, and Crabbe and Goyle scowled.  
"At least we don't consort with mudbloods," Malfoy sneered.  
"Then what are you doing here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. "We're all a bunch of blood traitors here – but then again, none of our fathers are in prison…"  
Malfoy seemed to be developing a nervous twitch as he regarded Harry furiously. Sarah decided the conversation had gone far enough. She stood up, and regarded Malfoy and his cronies with derision. "Out. Now." She stated.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and took a step back. His father had warned him about this girl. Really, he didn't see why, she was just a stuck up ice queen, a mudblood and traitor like the rest of them. Not even exceptionally gifted. Apparently, the sorting hat had considered her for Slytherin. He snorted at the thought. She would have been turned out before she could unpack.

"Out." She repeated. Malfoy did not move.

Snarling, Sarah turned her back on her friends and created another crystal, hurling it after Malfoy as he ran from the sight of it.

_Crystals__? The girl could create crystals? _Malfoy froze as he turned a corner, away from the strange girl. _Crystals?!_ Draco had only ever seen one man who could create crystals, and he was not from this world – he showed no compassion to anyone of this world either.  
The one time Draco had met the man, his look of scorn had seeped into Draco's soul. The fae had cared not for humans, and his cold contempt for mortals had been reflected in his meddlesome attitude towards their affairs.

Malfoy couldn't remember the man's name. Perhaps it wasn't important. What was important was that Sarah Williams, the plain, ordinary mudblood of no pure descent, had this magic.

She could conjure crystals, and that scared him.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey everyone, it's been a long time coming, I know… I just finished a week of exams, and they're only midterms, so the rest of you who have summer right now, or have only just started school – feel lucky! I have my finals in six weeks, and I'm so scared, since the marks have to get me into University. So yeah, I've been studying my butt off, sorry for the lack of update!  
I've slowed this story down a bit, and this chapter is mainly to get the characters straight, because I tend to be a bit flighty sometimes! 

Thanks to **anon** (whoever you are . ), **Xelena, Awhina** (Yay for Kiwi's!!) **Kontara, Nimhithriel **(I wondered where you'd been lately!) **Dryad13, Switchy, **and **tania darling …**I'm sorry if I missed anyone!

Please review, I'd really appreciate it, suggestions, comments all welcome, but please don't flame me!

Love and cookies,

Cariah.


	5. The New Professor

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling, and everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. I'm just borrowing bits for a while – honest!

**An Immortal Magic**  
By Cariah Delonne.

**Chapter 5**

Sarah returned to the compartment, deliberately avoiding the shocked gazes of her friends once again. Neville was mumbling something which sounded suspiciously like "unnatural bubbles" and Harry, Ron and Hermione were deliberately looking away.

Ginny stared at her in wonder, voicing the one question they all wanted the answer to.  
"Are you going to explain what's going on?"

Sarah shrugged and sat down. "I just conjured a crystal to chase him. Nothing major," she replied repressively.  
Ginny narrowed her eyes, unsatisfied with her answer, but seeing that Sarah would not answer any further questions, she dismissed it and turned back to previous topics.

The remainder of the train journey passed without event. Sarah was quiet most of the way, her mind dwelling on Malfoy's face as she conjured the crystal. He had known it was not normal magic - had it been fear? Recognition? Or both?

As night began to fall the train began to slow, pulling into Hogsmeade station. The prefects all exited, leaving their various pets with the others and supervising the other students as they exited the train.

Hagrid's familiar voice resounded over them, with the call of "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" He smiled down at them as he passed, a nervous bunch of first years gathering round him, huddled together timidly.

Harry, Ginny, Luna and Neville got out of the train a few moments later, making their way awkwardly towards the carriages with various animals under their arms. Seeing the prefects making towards them, they split into two groups; Ginny, Luna and Sarah taking one carriage, and Ron, Harry, Hermione and Neville taking the one behind them.  
Gratefully, Sarah took Amahl from Neville, who was trying to keep hold of a frantic Trevor at the same time.

In their own carriage, Hermione turned to her two best friends. "What's with Sarah?"  
Ron shrugged. "Why? There's always something wrong with girls."  
Hermione rolled her eyes, refraining from commenting. "That wasn't normal magic. Crystals are a legendary form of magic – an object of magic. To conjure a crystal takes an awful lot of dark magic – and no-one has been seen to conjure one for over four hundred years."

Harry frowned. "But that just doesn't make sense – Voldemort" (Ron squeaked indignantly) "is the most powerful dark wizard in a century – can't he conjure them?"  
Hermione shook her head. "No. Crystal magic is not wizard magic. The two don't work together – well, there's never been a record of someone who had both together before…" she trailed off, looking pensive.  
Neville looked up, puzzled. "Then could crystals defeat You-Know-Who? Could they stop him?"  
Shrugging, Hermione looked around at her friends, Harry sullen in the corner. "I don't remember. I've come across them a little in our homework, but there's not much known about it. I'll have to look them up in the library again."

"They won't defeat him," Harry said.

Ron frowned. "You never know – it's worth giving it a go, isn't it?" Neville and Ron looked very pale in the gathering dusk.  
Harry shook his head. "They won't kill him," he repeated emphatically.  
Frowning, Hermione looked closely at Harry. "Why not?"  
Looking at his feet, he told them of the prophecy – how it had not been completely lost – how one day, he would either be a victim or a murderer.

They sat stunned. Neville was looking decidedly paler, and Hermione's lips were in a thin line. Ron merely said "Blimey," and left it at that.

The depressing conversation was drawn to an end as the carriages drew up outside Hogwarts. Harry felt a familiar surge of warmth at the well-known walls, and somewhere up in the depths of the castle, his dormitory and a four poster bed. Already, his luggage would be making its way through the castle to be waiting for him. Looking at the stone walls with happy familiarity, Harry waited for the others to leave the carriage, seeing Sarah, Luna and Ginny waiting for them outside the doors. Grinning, Harry felt lighter than he had in months, and the others all grinned as well, happy to be back at Hogwarts.

"Oy! Williams!" called a voice.  
They all turned on their heel to see Malfoy swaggering up the steps behind them with his wand drawn, Crabbe and Goyle following behind him cracking their knuckles.

"Where did you learn to conjure crystals?" he demanded, "Father always told me to be wary of you… you filthy mudblood. It's disgusting – purity of blood counts for less and less – that a mudblood like you can learn how to master crystals…" he trailed off in shock as a gloved hand caught his collar and lifted him clean off the ground.

Hermione took a step back. The strange man had just apparated in front of their eyes. "But – but you can't apparate in the school grounds!" she stammered. "That's impossible!"  
The stranger regarded her coolly. "Probably," he sneered, "But I didn't _apparate_, I appeared. There's a subtle difference."  
Ron and Harry had to suppress their sniggers in their sleeves, as Hermione was lost for words. "But _Hogwarts, A History _clearly states that no-one can enter the grounds…"

He ignored her and turned back to Malfoy, now struggling for air.  
"I remember you," he stated. "Lucius Malfoy's son."  
Malfoy nodded.  
He dropped him. "Go," the man ordered. Like a dog with its tail between its legs, Malfoy left, Crabbe and Goyle following sullenly.

Sarah stood shock still as Jareth, like a whirlwind, reappeared in her life.  
"Hello Sarah," he said, a smirk fixed upon his face.  
Sarah's thoughts raced. _Why are you here? What are you even doing in the mortal world? No-one here called you… _She glared up at him, her green eyes flashing. "Hello Jareth."  
He laughed softly, recognising the hatred in her eyes, and moments later, he was gone.

Shaking her head, Sarah turned back to her friends shocked faces. Hermione seemed to now be questioning everything she had ever learnt. "That's impossible!" she declared for the umpteenth time as they entered the Great Hall.  
Ron rolled his eyes. "Hermione – we _know._ But he did it. Just let it go."

"Miss Williams…" came a strict voice from her left. Sarah turned to see Professor McGonagall waiting expectantly for her. "The Headmaster wishes to see you in his office, now please."  
Sarah nodded, frowning, and followed her Head of House through the corridors to Dumbledore's office. The two stone gargoyles looked imposingly out towards them, and McGonagall regarded them with a faint smile before saying clearly "Ice Mice."

Wondering why Dumbledore seemed to have a particular affinity to sweets, Sarah looked back at McGonagall. "Aren't you…"  
"No, I need to attend to the first years. Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you."  
Sarah nodded and walked calmly up the stairs, the gargoyles moving back into place after she had gone.

Tentatively, Sarah knocked on the door. Entering, she found Professor Dumbledore deep in conversation with a man with his back to her, but she didn't need to see his face to recognise him.  
"Evening Professor," she said quietly.  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at her as she closed the door.

"Evening Sarah," Jareth drawled, his mouth curled up in a smirk. She very dearly wished to slap him, but resisted the urge and merely ignored him.  
"You wished to see me?"  
Dumbledore smiled at her. "Yes, my dear. We need to discuss your timetable for the coming year."

Sarah looked puzzled. "But –"

He held up a finger, quieting her. "You see, your magic has begun to develop in ways which we mere mortals cannot fathom. It would be pointless for anyone aside from a master of crystals to even bother trying to teach you," Dumbledore said bluntly, "and that requires extra lessons."

Sarah began to comprehend what he was saying. "With _him_? You have _got_ to be joking."

"Unfortunately," Jareth said, "He is not. I have taken on a position within the school in order to be able to teach you, although I need not stress that I have other things I would rather be doing."

"Like stealing babies?"  
Jareth smirked, "No Sarah, like running a Kingdom."  
Sarah scowled. "Isn't that the same thing?"

Stalking closer to her, Jareth picked up her hand, cool and small within his own, and from it withdrew the crystal that had formed in her palm. She snatched her hand away, and Jareth frowned at her. "Control your temper, little girl," he said in way of reply, discarding her crystal.

Dumbledore stepped between them. "Enough," he said quietly. "Sarah, you _will_ attend extra lessons with Professor Sidhe-" (Sarah smirked at the name) "on top of your other classes. You have to control this magic."  
Scowling, Sarah nodded.

Down at the Great Hall, Harry, Ron and Hermione watched as Professor Dumbledore and a new teacher entered the room and seated themselves at the staff table. Moments later, Sarah appeared in the Great Hall, and seated herself with her fellow Griffindors.  
Harry watched Snape's reaction to the new Professor with interest. Occasionally, he had shown wariness, as in Professor Moody, or utter loathing to Lupin, but Harry had never seen Snape watch someone with an expression bordering on fear. Harry looked at the new Professor curiously, and to his surprise, found his eyes meet his.  
The man made no flicker of surprise to see Harry – no shift of the eyes to Harry's forehead, indeed, his mouth curled into a smirk as he held Harry's eyes, and Harry got the uncomfortable feeling as if his very soul had been pierced.

What seemed like hours later, the sorting and feast was over, and Dumbledore stood, the last fragments of chatter dying away.  
"Welcome to you all to a new year! After the events of the last few months, I hope you have all returned to us safe and healthy. Hogwarts classes will continue as normal, and may I remind you _all_ that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds. I also have the pleasure of introducing to you our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Sidhe." The man nodded curtly, his gaze sweeping the Great Hall, and landing with a smirk on Sarah.

Ron poked Harry in the ribs. "Malfoy," he whispered. Harry turned discreetly around, to see Malfoy looking distinctly rattled. No doubt he had not yet forgotten being held in the air by the new Professor.  
The clatter of chairs moving roused Harry and Ron from watching Malfoy with suppressed laughter, and Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, waiting impatiently as the other two joined her.

Ginny and Sarah, ahead of Harry, Ron and Hermione, were talking in low voices.  
"Who _is _he, Sarah?" Ginny pressed. " Sidhe - that's a really unusual name, and you know, he couldn't keep his eyes off you."  
Sarah laughed ironically. "That's because he hates me, and believe me, it's mutual."  
Ginny pressed her for more, but Sarah would say nothing else about it.

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**A/N: **Okay – not the most brilliant ending to the chapter, but I couldn't figure out where to stop. two things I just want to clear up:  
First, Jareth does, in fact, hate Sarah at this point as he hasn't forgiven her. Some fics have Sarah think he hates her, when he doesn't, but this one I decided he did hate her. He may get over it eventually – and he may not (ha – can you tell I haven't decided – both are appealing).  
Second, Hermione describes the crystal's magic as "dark magic" - and this will probably cause confusion - again, this is different from wizard magic (dark or otherwise), which is where Harry and Ron got confused. Hermione doesn't really understand it herself at this point.  
Sorry, this chapter seemed to move really fast again – I'm like that… the next one should be much slower. Although I think this is my longest chapter (go me!) 

Thanks to **Moonjava, kaio, Kontara, scifimimi, psycho pixie, Lovely Doom, Sightlessmuse, Queen Diamond, Dryad13, Nimhithriel **and **AkumakoRonso **for all your lovely reviews. (Sorry if I missed anyone!)

Please review .

Cariah.


	6. Reminiscing

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling, and everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. I'm just borrowing bits for a while – honest!

**An Immortal Magic**   
By Cariah Delonne.

**Chapter 6**

Jareth scowled as he watched Sarah leave the Great Hall. Her step was light, although he could tell she was purposefully keeping her eyes averted from him. His eyes bore holes in the back of her head, intense and angry.

_How dare she turn away from him! He was her monarch – her King!_

He suppressed his anger as the students filed out of the hall, one after another. It smarted that he was being reduced to a mere professor – by her! If any one of these students knew who he really was, they would cower in fear. Even Sarah, happy in her ignorance, did not know the extent of his power.

A slight movement to the right of the hall caught his attention. It was Lucius Malfoy's son again. There was fear in his eyes – respect. So at least one of these lowly mortals understood their place. Malfoy inclined his head slightly, forcing the two boys on either side of him to do the same.

Jareth nodded in reply, before turning his attention away.

Idly, Jareth wondered how much Malfoy had told his son about the Goblin Kingdom.   
Jareth had never liked Lucius Malfoy – he never really liked anyone – but he had helped him, as he had helped others – for a price.

Almost twenty years ago, Malfoy had journeyed through to the Underground seeking knowledge. It was a rare occurrence, but not unheard of, that a mortal would risk his life for knowledge in such a treacherous world, under such a ruler. For that, Lucius had earnt a small anmount of respect in Jareth's eyes.

It seemed Malfoy had been sent to Jareth by one known to Malfoy as the 'Dark Lord.' It had seemed that he would not – or could not – speak his name. Jareth, uninterested in the affairs of mortals, named his price.

One hundred mortal souls.

Over the next few months, souls had been sent to Jareth in the name of Lucius Malfoy. Six months after Malfoy had first journeyed to the underground, Jareth returned to the mortal world to keep his half of the bargain. It had shocked him at how quickly the souls had appeared – but he did not question it.

The knowledge Malfoy sought had not surprised Jareth either – immortality. Only one in the last two thousand years had gained that knowledge, in the form of a stone, eventually created by Nicholas Flamel.

It would seem however, that the 'Dark Lord' Malfoy spoke of did not want a stone – he wanted to be, like Jareth, immortal – not reliant on any elixir, or mere stone.

But what Malfoy had learnt had dismayed him. It would seem that the 'Dark Lord' would not be pleased. Jareth didn't care – his Labyrinth was flourishing, the human souls passed to him causing it's walls to grow and extend beyond what had been for hundreds of years.   
Some of these souls had formed beings within the Labyrinth – and although there were inhabitants already, these souls flourished and nurtured the beings already there. Jareth smirked as he thought of the irony that those very souls had helped Sarah through his Labyrinth.

_Perhaps_, he thought wryly, _it was not irony at all_.

Jareth had met Lucius only twice since the day that he completed their bargain, the first being the day Sarah solved his Labyrinth. Lucius, of course, knew the ancient pact between the Underground and the Aboveground as well as Jareth himself.

A particular clause sprang to mind – _No mortal, whether man, woman or child, shall ever solve the Labyrinth and return to the mortal world above. _

However, what's done was done. All involved knew that pact or no, Sarah Williams had returned to the aboveground, magic coursing through her veins.   
Jareth had felt the immortal part of her magic begin to surface over a year ago, whilst she remained unawares. She was most likely also unawares that any pact between the Underground and Aboveground ever existed, or that she had inadvertently broken it.   
She certainly had no idea that he _was _her monarch, her ruler. One day, the truth would shock and grieve her.

It was at the time when her magic woke, that Lucius called upon Jareth for the last time.   
In his arrogance, Lucius had called Jareth to the mortal world, to be unexpectedly confronted with a smouldering Goblin King.

"What do you want, Lucius?" Jareth had drawled. As he expected, Lucius began to lose his arrogance in Jareth's presence, as had many greater men in the same situation.

_All except a stubborn little girl…_

"Well?" Jareth waited expectantly.   
"The Dark Lord bids you greetings, Your Highness."   
Jareth raised an elegant eyebrow, his temper rising. "I see no _Dark Lord_," he replied mockingly.   
"I am but his humble servant…"   
"A humble servant?!" Jareth threatened quietly, taking a step closer to him. "Your _Lord _sends a _servant _to bid me greetings?"   
"Jareth…"

The King's eyes flashed. "I have a title, Malfoy. It would be prudent to use it."   
Lucius stood taller, his eyes narrowing in anger. "And you, _Jareth_, would do better not to threaten a servant of the Dark Lord."   
Jareth snorted in contempt. "You forget, Malfoy. I bow to no-one, and never to mortals." He turned on his heel to leave.

"Yet a child bested you!" Malfoy snarled.   
The air grew thick with tension, and outside, wind began to howl, rattling the windows.   
Lucius continued onwards, oblivious to the meaning of the imminent storm.

"You allowed her to return! She said six meaningless words – and yet she was allowed to return! What right did you have to jeopardise the entire treaty?"   
When Jareth turned back to Lucius, his expression was clouded, his eyes dark.

"You are unaware of the complexities of my kingdom, or of the rules by which I am bound within the Labyrinth," he said softly. "When Sarah confronted me to reclaim her brother, we were equals. When she realised that only through her permission could I keep him – the same as I took him with her permission – she gained power that I had not.   
Perhaps it is ironic that when she left, she gained magic from the Labyrinth itself. As I am ruler of the Labyrinth, I am also now her king, her sovereign."

"Then why is she still here? This child, which you _do _have power over – why did you not take her back?"

Jareth's eyes flashed dangerously, as thunder boomed and a crystal went whistling past Malfoy's ear to smash a tall vase.   
"Never question me!" he snarled. "You forget, Lucius, that aside from the Labyrinth's laws, Sarah is protected by those of the Aboveground. I could no sooner take her to the Labyrinth than to take any other mortal without permission! It would solve so many problems if it were that simple – but nothing is ever easy."   
Jareth's voice lowered. "You would do better, Malfoy, to stick to matters you already understand. I have an entire kingdom to run, do not bother me again with your petty mortal troubles, or _you _will run my Labyrinth.   
I do not return the greetings of your _Dark Lord_. Farewell."

Imperiously, he smirked at the pale, pointed face which peeked curiously around the doorway. In a shower of glitter, he was gone.

Returning from his memories, Jareth stared thoughtfully at Draco Malfoy's retreating back.   
It pleased him that the boy knew his place – he was the spitting image of his father, and doubtless it had been him hiding in the shadows of the doorway last year.

Turning, Jareth realised Dumbledore was addressing him, and he was surprised to find that most of the professors had begun to leave without his noticing.

"Mr. Malfoy knows who you are," Dumbledore stated.   
Jareth nodded curtly. "As does his father, as I am sure that you are aware."

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling as he remembered the meeting between himself, Lucius and Jareth, that day five years ago in the Goblin castle.

"I do not know if you realise, Dumbledore, but I am unaccustomed to being treated with such disrespect as is given to professors by students. It is intolerable."   
"Yet it cannot be helped. Sarah must learn how to control her magic, and she must continue her studies here. It was your decision to take on the added responsibility of Defence against the Dark Arts."

Jareth scowled. "Only at your urging."   
"You are a very capable teacher, as you are well aware."   
His scowl deepened. "Flattery will get you nowhere, old man."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Goodnight, Your Highness," he replied simply, as he turned and left for his own quarters.

Jareth turned to glower at him, but he had already gone.

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Sarah lay in bed, wide awake, her eyes searching the canopy above her bed. She did not know what she was searching for – she doubted the canopy held the meaning of life, or understanding towards the purpose of the universe. It was however, a rather good place to focus on, to stop her thoughts coming out in a rapid jumble, making no sense and sending her mind reeling.

Jareth.

She couldn't get him out of her mind – she hated him with a passion. The kind of passion that made her want to do horrible things to him to let him know how much she had suffered – how much she had hurt and been through – how much she had experienced in those long hours within his ghastly Labyrinth.

Of course, the experiences weren't all bad, but the realisation that it was she who had wished Toby away, and the fear of losing him – had hurt her beyond words. Of course, she had learnt from it. Of course, she had become a better person – but she wanted Jareth to suffer for making her a _better person _in the most painful way possible.

She lay still for a while longer, dwelling on her extra lessons. She was not looking forward to them at all – let alone normal classes with him. Although anything was better than Umbridge.   
She smirked at his mortification of being called simply "Sir" or "Professor".   
With that happy thought, she fell asleep.

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**A/N:**I'm sorry – I _do_ write short chapters… they just end up this way, honest! Although this isn't as fast-paced as the last one (I hope!). It also fills in story from earlier on.   
And I know – I'm sure I'm the world's worst updater… this has been a month or so now… cries The next chapter classes will start at Hogwarts.   
Thank you all so much for the reviews! I felt so guilty for not updating when I saw them all… so I'm taking a break from revision.

Thanks to: **Innogen,****DonutHobbes, psycho pixie, ObsedianFox13, Lady Aniviel, kaio, Lady Sorrow, Queen Diamond, Kontara, Nimhithriel, Moonjava **and the **Anonymous **people too! Wow – look at them all! hugs

I hope you enjoy… and please review!

Cariah.


	7. Classes

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling, and everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. I'm just borrowing bits for a while – honest!

**An Immortal Magic**  
By Cariah Delonne.

**Chapter 7**

Sarah ran into Draco Malfoy outside the Great Hall before breakfast the next morning. She sighed as she watched his pointed face twist in malice, his eyes glinting as they met her own. She was in no mood to confront him so early in the morning – and before breakfast, no less.  
She looked around her. Ginny and the others had already disappeared towards breakfast – just lovely.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, her mouth in a thin line.

His eyes narrowed at her flippant tone. He gripped her by the arm and steered her into a secluded alcove, Crabbe and Goyle behind them.

"Hey…!"  
Malfoy snarled as he held Sarah against the wall, his wand threateningly close to her. She tried in vain to grasp her own wand, but failed as Malfoy motioned to Crabbe, who pulled her wand out of her bag with a flourish. Goyle stood in the doorway, keeping watch and cracking his knuckles threateningly. Sarah had to admit that while they were not too bright, they made rather effective henchmen.

Without her wand, Sarah felt very exposed and threatened. Sure, she had crystals, but she had realised that while she remained untrained, they remained unreliable at best.

"Why," hissed Malfoy, "can you conjure crystals, yet you are in _Gryffindor_?"

Sarah blinked. That wasn't what she had expected. She hadn't really known what to expect, but "Why can _you_ conjure crystals, mudblood?" or a similar comment along yesterdays line of questioning would have been much less bizarre.  
Malfoy obviously knew more about crystal magic – _immortal _magic, her mind corrected – than she did, but that did little to appease her curiosity. Why was it strange that she should not be in Slytherin?

He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. Fighting him she squirmed, pulling against Malfoy's grip.

"Williams…" he warned. "I _will _hurt you…" his wand moved closer, and two whispered words rendered her immobile from the neck down.

"Malfoy! Release me!"  
He smirked annoyingly. "Tell me what I want to know."  
Sarah's eyes flashed. All she wanted was her breakfast – she could feel her stomach complaining. There was little chance of a normal day of classes with something like this happening first thing in the morning.

"Why," he repeated, "did the hat put you in Gryffindor, with crystal magic running through your veins?"  
_Immortal magic! _Her mind corrected automatically. She thought it was probably prudent not to let Malfoy know that minor distinction, especially in her current predicament.

"Because I'm not a lying, cheating little scum like yourself, Malfoy!" she hissed angrily.

He took a step back angrily. "How dare y…"

"Well, well, we meet again, Mr Malfoy," another voice said in clipped tones.

Draco frowned at Sarah as they both realised who had entered the alcove. Cursing under his breath, he muttered a counter-charm, releasing her. He turned, and gave a low bow to Jareth.

"Your Highness," he muttered, his face as impassive as the Goblin King's.

Sarah stared at Draco. "You know who he is?"

"Of course, don't you?" he sneered in rely.

She ignored him as she brushed past him and Crabbe, noticing wryly that Goyle was backed against the wall, face pale as he regarded Jareth. She snatched her wand casually from Crabbe's fingers as she passed. As she reached the doorway, she looked up into Jareth's face, impassive as ever, as he blocked her exit.

"Let me pass, Jareth," she said darkly.

He said nothing, merely regarded her as one would a child, and did not move. She turned to scowl at Draco as he made an indistinguishable noise behind her, but to her shock he was staring at her incredulously. She frowned in confusion.

"Miss Williams," Jareth stated expectantly. Turning back, she noticed he had stepped to the side. She took a step forward, but he held a hand out in front of her to halt her. She stopped in her tracks and looked up at him, her mouth opening in objection.

"Never," he started, cutting through her remonstrations, "address me so informally again. Ever."

She nodded, her face still set in a frown, and he let her pass. Fuming slightly, she entered the Great Hall.

Malfoy had been stunned that she had addressed him so informally – of course, she had yesterday as well, but that was in shock. Obviously he wasn't just going to let it slide. But that Malfoy _knew _Jareth's identity, his title, worried her more at present. She scowled deeper and took a seat on the Gryffindor table between Ginny and Ron. Both greeted her merrily, Ron through a mouthful of cornflakes. Hermione watched him and rolled her eyes, muttering something along the lines of "Boys!" before she too greeted Sarah cheerfully.

"Where were you?" questioned Ginny curiously. "You were only just behind us, but now we're already halfway through breakfast…"  
Sarah shrugged. "Just talking."

Her scowl gradually disappeared entirely over breakfast, being surrounded by her friends was enough to cheer her up considerably. Even the deep glare Jareth sent her as he entered the Hall for his own breakfast – despite chilling her insides – did not dampen the mood created by sitting with her friends.

Professor McGonagall began giving out fifth year timetables soon after Sarah entered, and they were greeted by many groans. As Sarah looked down at her own timetable, she added her own sound of displeasure to the many complaints. Running her finger down the line entitled "Monday" Sarah read "Arithmancy, double Potions, Ancient Runes, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts." She sighed. Ginny peeked at her timetable and sighed as well.  
"Oh well," she muttered with a grimace, "At least we'll suffer together."  
Sarah couldn't help but agree.

Slowly, students began to filter out of the Great Hall towards their classes, and reluctantly, Sarah and Ginny made their way to Arithmancy.

An hour later, Sarah felt as though her head was about to burst. The lecture about the importance of their OWL's in June had taken up almost all of the lesson. Sarah wasn't sure if she could handle two hours of Snape as well. She sighed – and Jareth at the end of the day… she couldn't imagine things much worse than a day that began and ended with Jareth.

Except extra lessons. Inwardly, she groaned again.

As the fifth years entered the dungeons, they fell silent, the small pockets of chatter dying away in Professor Snape's presence.

"Quiet!" he snapped unnecessarily. "The instructions are on the blackboard. You have two hours – begin."  
Instantly, the class sprang to action.

Looking up from her work a few minutes later, Sarah stopped short as she met Snape's gaze. It was cool and calculating, as he examined her from a distance. He turned away again after a minute, but Sarah couldn't help but wonder how many members of the teaching staff knew of her unusual talent with crystals. Given Snape's wary and calculating observation of her, it was obvious that he, at least, knew of it.

Ginny sighed as they moved to the Great Hall for lunch. "I'm glad this morning's over," she muttered, as they joined the rest of the Gryffindors.

"I'd drink to that," Harry agreed, raising a glass of pumpkin juice. They all grinned, and laughing, raised their glasses.

"To the end of Monday mornings!"

It seemed to Sarah that the happiness and relief of mealtimes was directly proportional to the miserable feeling of classes. She mentioned this to Ginny as they left Ancient Runes, worn out from another lesson filled with the importance of their upcoming OWL's.  
Ginny laughed, agreeing with her friend as they made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sarah was feeling distinctly apprehensive as they neared the classroom, and Ginny suggested she go to the hospital wing. Sarah shook her head, knowing it would only put off the inevitable.

They took seats in the back of the classroom, Sarah trying to be as inconspicuous as possible – which is quite a challenge when you're four years older than the other students in the room. She noted with a scowl that they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins.  
The class was obviously quite excited about the prospect of a new teacher. Sarah couldn't see why – there was a new one every year. It had begun to lose it's charm.

When Jareth entered the room, it was obvious he wasn't planning on conforming to wizarding conventions by wearing robes – he wore his usual attire.

His cloak was a deep, dark green, and it's high collar made his features more angular and chiselled. He wore dark tights and a cream shirt, open to reveal the pendant hanging from a chain around his throat. Sarah mused that he couldn't have worn anything more different from usual wizard apparel.

However – he was far from a usual wizard.

He surveyed his class with distaste, his lip curled in a sneer as he stood imperiously before them.  
The class seemed to hold its breath, waiting for him to speak, and when he did, his voice was crisp – cool and authoritative.

"I am Professor Sidhe. You will all refer to me by my said title or by 'Sir' at all times." His eyes lingered on Sarah for a moment. "Unlike normal wizards, you will find I do not use a wand, but crystals as my source – or channel – of magic."

Ginny glanced sideways at Sarah, who ignored her.

"…however, for the purpose of this class, my crystals will form the same" his mouth thinned in dislike "_spells _that you may encounter in the wizarding world."  
He regarded each member of the class with cold eyes, before assessing their aptitude in dark creatures, curses and jinxes for the remainder of the lesson, occasionally creating a creature out of a crystal to test a student.

As the lesson began to wind down, Sarah sighed inwardly. It hadn't been half as bad as she had expected. She felt herself relax considerably, as large weight was removed from her shoulders.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the day's classes, and Sarah felt her stomach sink as Jareth called out to her for her to remain behind before she had a chance to leave. She bit her lip and motioned to Ginny to carry on. "I'll catch up with you…" she muttered.  
Slowly, she made her way to the front of the classroom.

"Yes?" she asked irritably. Her raised his eyebrows at her impudence.

"Yes, sir?" she corrected with a sigh.

"Careful, Sarah, or I will put you on detention."

She regarded him with a frown. _Was he joking?_ "Detention?" she asked, trying to stifle a laugh. The Goblin King was standing in front of her, threatening her with _detention_?

He turned back to her. "Don't mock me Sarah. I don't think you would enjoy my idea of detention much. It's a far cry from your human standards."  
Sarah didn't miss the threat, her mind immediately drawn to the memory of the oubliette. She shuddered.

"I didn't call you here to argue," he said derisively. " We need to arrange your extra lessons." Inwardly, Sarah sighed. And here she was, hoping he had forgotten – for at least one day.

"Is there a problem?"

"No – sir."

"Good. Then take this." Carelessly, he threw her a crystal.

She frowned. "What is it?" she asked without thinking.

He raised an eyebrow. "It's a crystal, nothing more."

_"But if you turn it this way, it will show you your dreams…"_

"Yes," she said impatiently, shaking off memories, "but what does it do?"

He smirked. "It will summon you for your lessons"

"_Summon_?" she said incredulously. "It will _summon _me to you?"

"That is the general idea. You will place it on the ground, and it will lead you to me."

Sarah was still staring at him in disbelief. "You expect me to drop everything to take a lesson in crystals whenever you summon me? That's hardly-"

"-fair?" he taunted, taking a step closer to her.

"I was going to say 'reasonable'."

He smirked, showing his sharp canines. "Same thing."

Her temper flared, but he help up his hand to halt her arguments as they began to form on her lips. "Enough, Sarah. You will come immediately when called, and you will master crystals. You have no choice in the matter."

"And if I don't come immediately?"

His eyes flashed dangerously, as he took another step closer to her. They were now only inches apart, Sarah glaring up at him, the crystal clenched in her hand.

"I wouldn't recommend it," he said darkly.

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**A/N: **Woot! Another chapter! -does little dance- Please don't kill me – I know I'm a slow updater.  
This is essentially a Laby fic – hence why it's under the Labyrinth section – I want to point out that while I'm using JK Rowling's wizarding world, it's mainly the setting I'm after.

A HUGE thank you to **Dryad13**, **Moonjava**, **Just a Starving Writer**, **Queen Diamond**, **Lovely Doom**, **kali-luv** and **kaio**.  
You are all wonderful! -hugs-

Please R&R!!

-Cariah.


	8. Lesson One

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling, and everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. I'm just borrowing bits for a while – honest!

**An Immortal Magic**  
By Cariah

**Chapter 8**

Sarah turned on her heel and left Jareth's presence before he could call her back, anger burning inside of her.

His layered threats caused her to scowl at every first year she passed, and the normally popular girl emitted an aura of ill-will towards those around her. Even Malfoy, catching sight of her, opened his mouth to jeer in her direction, but upon seeing her expression, closed it promptly, opting to leave her alone.

The crystal throbbed in her hand as she squeezed it tightly. Unlike her own crystals, his did not disappear at her will, and this only fuelled her anger. She wanted it out of her sight; she wanted all things from the Underground and of Jareth to just disappear from her life forever. She had once asked him to do very that, but to her bitter disappointment (and, however much she may deny it, to her _fear_) he had reappeared in the centre of her life once more, as infuriating and dominating as ever.

In what seemed like moments, Sarah had arrived at the Gryffindor common room. Scowling deeply, she hissed "Horatio Hornsbuckle" through clenched teeth, and the portrait swung open. The common room was all but deserted as most of the House was already at dinner, no doubt discussing the excitement of the day and its classes. Sarah wanted nothing more than to forget the last hour had ever happened, and but for the crystal clenched in her hand, she would be able to.  
Ginny caught sight of Sarah as she came down from the girls dormitories, her greeting turning instantly to a frown as she caught sight of Sarah's thunderous face.

Sarah ignored her look of concern, and drawn by the flames, stormed across the common room to the fire. A couple of startled second years jumped out of her path, hastily retreating at the venomous anger, and Sarah, hardly seeing them, walked straight past and angrily threw the crystal into the fire.

Instantly, time froze, and Sarah cried out as a sharp pain hit her in the abdomen. Her eyes blurred with tears of shock, and Sarah could just make out Ginny staring at her, frozen in mid-stride.

Within moments, Jareth had appeared by her side.  
He took in the scene with contempt, his gaze finally coming to rest upon Sarah, collapsed on the floor, hands protectively curled around her belly.

She met his eyes. "Stop… stop…" she whispered hoarsely.

He stretched the silence a little while longer.  
"No," he finally stated.

Sarah let out a hopeless moan. "Is…is it the crystal causing this, or you?"

Jareth's gaze moved steadily from her to the fireplace, where the crystal sat within the flames, its perfect shape not in the least marred by the heat.  
"It is me," he stated.

The silence stretched a little longer, punctuated by Sarah's heavy breathing, as she remained crumpled, unable to do anything. Jareth looked curiously around the room, as if waiting for her to say something.

Finally, she managed to find her voice.  
"Why?"

He turned back to her, his profile chiselled and cold as his eyes bore into her. Completely devoid of emotion, he considered a moment before replying at last.  
"To teach you a lesson," he stated.

Sarah whimpered. The pain was spreading, and she could barely move as it was. Jareth watched on, plainly bored by his surroundings. He looked down at her almost prostrate form below him, and let out a snide smile.

Sarah looked up at him, her face small and frightened. Jareth would never have thought it was so easy to make her so docile.

Hoarsely, she whispered, "Please, please stop, sir…"

Jareth now did not take his eyes off her, but let her shrink under his gaze.   
Slowly, very slowly, he let the magic recede.

Sarah remained on the floor a couple of moments, recovering from her ordeal.

Then, without looking at Jareth, she stood and moved to the fireplace withdrawing the crystal. It was still cool to touch, and responded to her fingers, like a child happy to see its mother. Sarah thought it strangely odd that crystals behaved in such an animate way towards their masters, unlike magic, which seemed merely the channel for wizards to use their powers.

As Sarah turned round, she noticed the room had begun to blur back into normal time, and Jareth had all but disappeared.

"Why did you return?" She called after him.

He turned back towards her, becoming once more a corporeal figure, an amused and condescending smile upon his face.  
"I can assure you, I had no choice in the matter." he replied.

Strength returning to her by the instant, Sarah stood up straighter, her previous anger at how she was treated by Jareth persisting with every passing moment, taking fuel from her recent humiliation at his hands.  
"But you weren't meant to return! I won, and got Toby back and I left. _I_ rejected _you_, and your paltry advances and offerings. There was no need for you to come back into my life."

Jareth smiled predatorily. He stepped menacingly towards her, and Sarah's momentary courage began to leave her, as she stepped back from his advancing form.  
"Wrong, little girl," he whispered darkly. "That wasn't how it was meant to end. You were never meant to leave. _Never!_"

"But I denied you _Your Highness_, and I did leave!"

Jareth laughed and Sarah took yet another step back, unnerved.  
"Do not deceive yourself Sarah. Do not deceive yourself that I meant one word of what I said. Do not deceive yourself that I cared for one moment about you or our brother. You will find yourself severely disappointed."

His cold manner left Sarah standing, shocked and alone in the centre of the common room as time returned to normal speed around her. To the rest of the room, Sarah seemed to stop mid-stride towards the fire-place and retreat hastily towards her dormitory.

* * *

The following days saw the school getting into a semi-routine, with occasional detentions in various forms for some of the students, but mostly the first two weeks passed in quiet routine. OWL's seemed to be further stressed in every class they had, and the workload increased dramatically from the year before. 

Sarah found Defense Against the Dark Arts almost bearable, as Jareth all but ignored her after their disagreement. She had hardly been able to stop thinking about his words in the common room. She had taken for granted for so long that "_the_ _King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl…" _ that to hear it completely denied from his lips had shaken her. Of course, it should have come as no surprise. The words had come from that silly book, which seemed to have given a poorly drawn picture of the Labyrinth from the start.

But still, it was a harsh reality shock to have something she had been so sure of, so _proud_ of, absolutely denied. She couldn't believe herself so proud – as proud as him, in fact – not to have seen it earlier. But his actions certainly did not seem to be that of a man possessed by love, and the reality she was forced to face meant that she had been forced to come to some humbling conclusions about her own pride.

But _he_ had said those things – he had turned the world upside down for her – and she had rejected him. But she remembered the self-satisfied look on his face as he said it – as if no woman would (or could) ever deny him – and she remembered why she had rejected him in the first place. And really, it wasn't as if she had anything to mourn. But still, it seemed to be one of those inscrutable truths of her childhood that had just been stripped from her.

Her thoughts had remained in this cycle for two weeks before she was summoned once again to his presence, on the second Friday of term. To some extent she was relieved that it occurred after dinner when she was in the middle of homework that could easily be put off until later. However, she would of course have preferred not to have to go at all.

The crystal that she always kept with her began to glow a strange iridescent blue, and Ginny looked at it curiously. Scowling, Sarah hurriedly packed up her books and made some excuse to Ginny before leaving the common room.

Once outside, she placed the crystal on the ground as he'd instructed, and it immediately lost it's strange glow and began to roll of it's own accord down the corridor. Sarah followed wearily. It bounced down the stairs merrily, returning to her if she lagged behind, reminding her of the crystal Toby had played with in the Escher room. It lead her directly to Jareth's office and stopped outside, seeming to bounce with happiness outside as Sarah hesitated, then knocked.

"Enter," came his imperious voice from inside.

Sighing, Sarah opened the door, and entered the room.

The room was cluttered with papers, and two goblins stood in front of their king as he lounged in his usual attire on a high backed chair. His shirt half open, and knee lazily crossed, he tapped his riding crop lazily on the boot of his suspended ankle, and listened with apparent boredom to his subjects report.

He gave no glance towards Sarah, who picked up the crystal, and let it roll across her hands as she had once seen him do, many years ago. She guessed however, that this only happened because the crystal was one of his own making, and seemed to stick to her hands like a magnet, knowing instinctively where to go wherever she put her hands.  
Her own ones, she knew, would be as inexperienced as she was herself.

After a few minutes, the goblins stopped their chattering, as their report apparently finished. They glanced around the room, both jumping in shock as they recognised Sarah, who of course was now legendary in the Underground. Jareth impatiently made them disappear before they could question him, and he stood and approached Sarah with his usual saunter, like a tiger approaching a startled gazelle.

Sarah stopped playing with the crystal as he approached, and Jareth held his hand out for it. She gave it to him immediately and he placed it on the desk behind them. He made no pleasantries, did not ask after her day or her health, and Sarah took her cue from him and said nothing.

"Stand here," he ordered, indicating the clear space the centre of the room. It was almost as if a wind had swept all his belongings to the edges of the room, explaining the clutter, but leaving this small perfectly clear circle in the middle.

Sarah obediently moved to the centre of the circle, and waited for her next instruction. Jareth stood facing her, and looked at her expectantly.

"Create a crystal," he demanded.  
Sarah riled, but obediently held out her hand, and focussed her magic to a sphere in her palm, where a crystal formed. Jareth reached to pick it up, but it burst almost instantly.

"Another," he ordered. "You need to put more magic into it than that, they are too fragile."

Once more, Sarah focussed her magic onto her palm, and once again it burst as soon as he touched it. Again and again she tried, becoming more exhausted with every attempt. After about an hour, Jareth held up his hand.

"Enough. I cannot teach you while you are this weak. You will practice every night for an hour, at creating crystals that are strong enough to hold an ounce of magic."

Sarah opened her mouth to object, both at the length of time and the insinuation that she was weak, but once more Jareth held up his hand.

"Sarah, I am tired. I cannot be bothered with your whining attempts at fairness. You _will _practice. I will know if you haven't."

Sarah scowled and held her tongue.

"You are dismissed," Jareth continued.

Sarah turned on her heel and left, and as she reached the door, Jareth spoke her name once more. Her back stiffened instantly, and she turned enquiringly.

He tossed her the crystal that had led her to her lesson. "Don't forget this."  
Sarah caught it, and left the room without a word.

* * *

A/N: I Updated! Thank you thank you THANK YOU so so so much to those of you who have reviewed even though I haven't written anything on this for years. Please tell me what you think. 

Mucho love,

Cariah. xoxo


	9. Forgotten Fears

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling, and everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. I'm just borrowing bits for a while – honest!

**An Immortal Magic**  
By Cariah

**Chapter 9**

Later that evening, Sarah sat on her bed with the hangings pulled around her. Outside it had become dark, as night drew her thick cloak around the castle. Most students were in their common rooms – Gryffindors not exempt from this tradition. Some, like Hermione, were doing homework, others were enjoying the evening with the prospect of a whole weekend ahead of them.

Sarah, however, sat alone in her dormitory, glaring at the crystal in front of her. It beamed back at her, seeming to be mocking her attempts at replicating it.

Jareth's coldness earlier in the evening had chilled her, and she tried to brush the memory of him from her mind. But it was hard with the constant presence of crystals in her life.

Scowling, she pushed not only all her will into her magic, but also her anger. A crystal appeared in her palm, this one not at all blemished, but perfect. Sarah held it up in surprise, inspecting it and marveling at its strength.

Ha! She wasn't weak at all!

Experimenting, she created more and more crystals until they completely surrounded her. After the initial shock of seeing how many she had been able to create, she then realized she did not know how to make so many of them disappear. Surely it would take just as much of her magic to absorb them back again, and she felt strangely depleted.

Cautiously, she held her hand over one of them, palm down, and willed it to disappear. It evaporated at her will with a strange "pop" that was like not a tiny explosion of sound, but rather a vacuum of it, which seemed to create silence rather than noise. The disappearance of the crystal left Sarah feeling not depleted in magic however, but overcome with the anger she had poured into the crystal. The extreme burst of hatred within her leaked out, and caused all the remaining crystals around her to shatter simultaneously, leaving a magnified vacuum that threatened to burst Sarah's ear drums.

In shock, Sarah stared around at the scarlet hangings, letting her ears readjust to the normal sounds of the world around her. Next time, she thought, she should really dissolve each crystal one at a time, as soon as she had created it.

There was a clatter of footsteps outside the dormitory, and someone entered the room.

"Sarah?" came Ginny's enquiring voice, "Are you alright? I heard a really odd noise from up here…" she trailed off as Sarah's head popped out from behind her hangings.

"What _are_ you doing?" Ginny asked. "You just disappeared earlier, then when you reappear, you come straight up here…" her tone became worried.

Sarah considered, not for the first time, telling Ginny. About the Labyrinth, about wishing Toby away, about who Jareth really was… and although Ginny may be a couple of years younger than her, through knowing her for so long, she was the closest thing to a best friend Sarah had at Hogwarts.

She mused, that even here, where she was with people who like her, possessed magic, she did not fit in. She was years senior to her classmates – far advanced in terms of maturity than they could comprehend – and even her magic stemmed from something to completely different to anything any of them had ever encountered.

But still, Ginny cared for her, in the way she'd heard best friends were meant to, and she was worried. Professor Dumbledore had not expressly forbidden her from telling anyone, but it had been implied in their discussion… Sarah was torn. She certainly felt no to loyalty to Jareth, but she definitely did to Dumbledore, and also to Ginny.

Ginny waited for some kind of indication or explanation from Sarah, who remained silent for a few moments more, obviously contemplating what to say.

Sarah met Ginny's eye with a glint of mischief. "Would you like to hear a fairy story?"

Looking at Sarah as if she'd lost her mind, Ginny decided to humour her. "Sure…"

Sarah pushed aside the hangings enough to allow access to the bed. To Ginny's surprise, Sarah wasn't in her pajamas, but sitting fully clothed on top of her bed, not even changed out of her school robes, but sitting fully dressed in the middle of the bed.

Once the hangings were pulled once more, they were in a cozy, tent-like setting that Sarah thought perfectly suited the tale she was about to tell.

"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a young girl who resented her younger brother terribly…"

Ginny listened to Sarah's tale with open-mouthed awe. Sarah was careful not to embellish it or stray too far from the main points, and also was careful to perform a charm around her bed so they could not be overheard.

When she came to the end of her story, Sarah didn't really know what else to add, so she said nothing.

Ginny was intelligent enough to have picked up the nuances in the story, particularly those between her friend and Jareth. She also knew Sarah and Toby now enjoyed a close relationship and that Sarah felt particularly protective of him, which was explained by the trouble she had gone to in order to rescue the boy. The tensions between Jareth and Sarah however, were complex, and while she could see the reactions of both in their treatment of one another, she did not really understand it.

"So," queried Ginny, "now he's here, and not only because Dumbledore couldn't find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

"Nope," Sarah replied, "That's the icing on the cake – because I completed the Labyrinth – and defeated him – I seem to have gained some of its magic, so now he's here to teach me how to control it."

Ginny smiled. "Cool!"

Laughing, Sarah thought of how Ginny often reminded her of Ron. Some family traits, it seemed, were passed down regardless of gender.

Sarah and Ginny discussed the ins and outs of crystals – or, as Sarah put it, _immortal magic_, until some of the other girls came up to bed. Wanting to avoid suspicion, and questions, their talk came to an abrupt end.

However, one question of Ginny's remained in Sarah's head long after everyone else had fallen asleep.

"But Sarah, if it's immortal magic, surely only an immortal can possess it?"

"Nonsense," Sarah had replied.

But Sarah wasn't so sure.

Classes quickly became harder, and Sarah almost forgot about Jareth's extra lessons. Homework took up all of her spare time, even most of her weekends, and the most Sarah had time for crystals was a few stolen moments before she fell fast asleep at night.

All of her classes frequently required extensive essays in preparation of OWL's, forcing Ginny and Sarah to spend many a lunch hour researching in the library. It was in one of these extensive periods that a strange buzzing began to come from Sarah's bag.

Frowning, Sarah began to scrabble amongst the books, quills and parchment for the source of the sound, until she came across Jareth's crystal at the bottom of the bag. It was glowing a brilliant blue, and vibrating furiously. Sarah and Ginny exchanged a glance, Madam Pince's strict policies on silence not allowing either of them to expostulate too much on what it could mean.

"Well… here we go again…" Sarah muttered.

Ginny gave a weak smile.

"See you in transfiguration," Sarah continued as she packed her books in her bag, leaving the library as quickly as she could, trying to avoid curious looks at the brightly glowing crystal.

As soon as she placed the crystal on the floor outside the library, it raced away, and Sarah had to run to catch up with it. It was certainly not in the playful, bouncing mood it had been in last time she had been summoned. If it was an indication of Jareth's mood, Sarah decided she was looking forward to it this lesson even less than usual.

Sarah also noticed it was not leading her to Jareth's office, but towards one of the towers which were all but deserted save for a few empty classrooms.

The crystal led Sarah up a series of staircases, and Sarah, exhausted after sprinting after it, stopped for breath at the top of the second flight. The crystal bounced up and down, seemingly impatient, and Sarah muttered "Yes, yes… I'm coming Your Highness…" before resuming her climb.

Their journey ended outside a plain door in a deserted corridor, and Sarah, agitated by the way the crystal was acting, knocked sharply.

"Enter," replied a terse voice from within.

The room she entered was decorated much more lavishly than any of the other rooms she had stepped foot in within the castle. In fact, it reminded Sarah much more of Jareth's taste than anything else. It was strongly masculine, with deep red curtains and mahogany furnishings.

"You're late," he stated.

"I was studying… I didn't see the crystal…" muttered Sarah distractedly, still taking in her surroundings.

Jareth rose, drawing attention to his long, slender body as she stretched out his legs, his knee high boots tightly embracing his legs, outlining their slim shape.

Sarah stood with her head bowed, trying to refrain from trembling. Jareth was scowling deeply, and Sarah took a couple of steps towards him, hoping to appease his temper.

"Jareth, please… I… it was a mistake… I…"

His sharp, clipped tone cut her off. "Silence."

His boots echoed off the stone floor as he walked towards her. "I warned you," he said slowly, "not to ignore the crystal."

"But I…" Sarah started, looking up to plead with him, only to find herself staring straight at his chest. She looked up higher, to find a very angry Goblin King glaring straight down at her.

"Also," he continued, 'I remember specifically ordering you not to call me Jareth. Several times."

Sarah opened and closed her mouth uselessly. "I… I…"

"Produce a crystal," he ordered.

Sarah took a step back, only to find Jareth's arm reaching around her and pulling her back towards him. Her mouth opened in protest, only to find his hand moving from her lower back to clamp around her wrist, forcing her palm up, and glaring at her as she watched her arm rise against her will.

Feeling increasingly cornered, and struggling to keep up with his demands, Sarah produced a crystal in her palm.

Keeping one gloved hand tightly clamped around her wrist, Jareth used his free hand to pick up her crystal. Unlike others she had produced for him, this one did not shatter at his touch. He let a little magic trickle into it, but it had little capacity and vanished almost immediately.

"Better," he muttered, "but you will need to do much better, and you have not been practicing as often as I ordered you to. Now, produce another."

Sarah gritted her teeth, focusing on her palm. Just as she was about to release the magic into a form, Jareth leaned closer.  
"Concentrate…" he whispered in her ear.

Sarah felt his hot breath on her neck, and immediately a crystal appeared in her palm, only to shatter instantly.  
"You distracted me!" Her voice shook with anger. How dare he – how dare he play games with her!

Jareth sneered. "If you cannot produce a crystal with _me_ distracting you, how are you meant to do it under pressure?" he asked rhetorically.  
Sarah glared at him, wrenching her arm from his grip. She took a couple of steps back, finding herself against the cold stone wall.  
Advancing, Jareth's expression was no longer even remotely amused, but cold with fury.

"You defy me one too many times, Sarah," he whispered.  
"I defy you too little!" she hissed.  
"Only because you are scared, little girl. Soon, you will be too scared of me for even that small defiance."  
"I am not a little girl," Sarah retorted, knowing she sounded childish and resentful, but no longer caring.

Jareth continued advancing on her. "Oh, but Sarah, you are, and you always will be. Even if you live to be a hundred, to me, you will still be a little girl. A defiant, stupid little girl."

At his final words he stopped inches from her.

"But," he continued, "in comparison to the rest of this school, you are hardly a little girl…" Pausing, he took a final step, pressing her against the wall with his hips. "For little girls… hardly understand what I could do to you, if I so chose."

Sarah said nothing, and Jareth pressed harder, his hands touching her face, her hair.  
"Stop… please…" she finally muttered.  
Jareth bowed his head, pulling her face up to meet his eyes with one hand, continuing to stroke her hair with the other.

"No."

Sarah breathed in, sounding like a short, sharp gasp, as she felt him move against her.  
"Please…" she whispered.  
"No," he repeated. "You have defied me three times today Sarah – I may punish you however I choose."

Sarah felt her anger beginning to build inside her. He had no right to treat her like this – and even if she didn't believe his intention was to take it much further, she was not about to sit back and let him manipulate her.

Her eyes flashed, and her arms, although pinned to the wall by his body, moved a little to allow a crystal to form in one palm. She knew no spell to cast into it, so instead she let her anger into it until it throbbed in her hand.

Then, in one movement, she wrenched away from him and threw the crystal where it struck him directly in the chest.

He staggered, his face distorting in shock and fury.

Sarah slid away from his and made towards the door in escape. However, he recovered quickly, and Sarah soon found herself frozen mid-stride. Once again, Jareth lifted her arm, and he held it aloft as he paced around her. Sarah felt her back stiffen in fear, although she would never have admitted as much to Jareth. With an intake of breath, she was reminded sharply of the confrontation between them beneath the Escher room, in the heart of the Labyrinth. He paced in the same tense, dominating movement, his features cold, hard and chiseled in anger.

"Sarah," he began," I cannot tolerate this ungratefulness when I have given up so much in order to teach you. Without me, you cannot understand even the smallest part of your magic, and yet after all you have done to me, I stand here, once more, doing as you demand of me."

"And so, my dearest Sarah," he continued, "Do me the favour of following at least one of my demands, and create a crystal for me."  
Sarah obeyed, and a perfect sphere appeared in her hand. Jareth picked it up, studying it.  
"Much better," he whispered in her ear, releasing the spell that held her immobile.

"Next time," Jareth said as he turned away, flicking his wrist as an indication of dismissal, "respond immediately to my summons."

Sarah nodded as she turned to leave, picking up the crystal where it sat peacefully on the ground.  
As she opened the door to leave, Jareth's voice echoed across the room. "Oh, and Sarah… remember to practice. Your crystals _and _your manners."

Sarah replied with an arch smile. "Yes, Professor Sidhe."

* * *

A/N:

I updated again!

Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed!

-Cariah.


	10. Lost in Time

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter world belongs to JK Rowling, and everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. I'm just borrowing bits for a while – honest!

**An Immortal Magic**  
By Cariah Delonne

**Chapter 10**

Jareth watched her leave, his eyes hard. She did not respect him, and that must change before anything else. He had half a mind to speak to Dumbledore about her, but knew that the wizard would disagree with him. So, he would have to teach her in his own way. He smiled.

Sarah shook a little as she walked down the tower steps, and she had reached the bottom before she realized how far she had come. As she descended the final steps, she saw Professor Snape striding towards the staircase. When he saw her he stopped, his lip curled in distaste.

'What are you doing here?' he snapped.

Sarah felt her anger rise. He had no right to question her. It wasn't late at night, and the castle was free to be explored by the students.

'Well?'

'I was summoned,' Sarah said shortly, not clarifying further.

Snape surveyed her, as if deciding whether she spoke the truth.

'Professor McGonagall has been looking for you. I suggest that you go straight to her office,' he said curtly, striding past her and up the stairs towards Jareth's study.

Sarah was shocked for a moment. McGonagall had never needed to call on her before – but perhaps it was something to do with her OWLs, or her Transfiguration grades. Puzzled, Sarah began to make her way through the castle towards McGonagall's office. Her pondering as she walked gave her no conclusions, and as she raised her hand to knock she was as confused as when she had left Jareth's tower.

Before she rapped on the door however, Professor McGonagall opened it, and upon seeing Sarah, bustled her into her office with a click of her tongue. 'Where have you been girl? I've been looking for you everywhere!'

Sarah couldn't help but feel a little put out – after all, she had no control over when and where Jareth called her. And if it were up to her, she wouldn't be having these ridiculous lessons that so far had taught her nothing at all. 'I was with Ja- Professor Sidhe, Professor McGonagall. He called me to his study for an extra lesson.'

McGonagall sniffed, not completely sure if that allowed Sarah to be let off from seemingly wandering around the castle while half of its inhabitants were looking for her. Sarah was more than sure that had she been having this conversation with Snape, the discussion would have ended in her being given detention.

Shaking her head, McGonagall gestured to a chair. 'Take a seat, Miss Williams,' she said resuming her usual poise.

The interview began, and Sarah was relieved to find it was only a careers lecture. She had forgotten completely about them, and silently wished she had remembered in order to escape Jareth's presence quicker. She left the room some twenty minutes later, her arms laden with brochures about healing, careers in the ministry and various other options she had vaguely considered, yet somehow had managed to completely avoid thinking about.

She met Ginny in the common room, dumping the pile of pamphlets on top of a table already brimming with similar papers.

'How was it?' Ginny asked. 'You were gone a long time – McGonagall wasn't too impressed you missed Transfiguration, and then you didn't show for your careers interview and she was furious.'

Sarah looked at Ginny in confusion. She had been gone twenty minutes, half an hour at most – only now did it seem strange that she should have left Jareth's room and gone straight to Transfiguration, but if course Snape had interrupted her, and she was angry with Jareth – furious even. But it still made no sense.

She said as much to Ginny, who frowned.

'I was only gone about half an hour – we were studying in the library, and then I went to Jareth's study, and he was angry because I hadn't come _immediately,_' her mouth twisted wryly, 'as if I was at his beck and call… but when I left I was heading to Transfiguration, but Snape… and then I met McGonagall and she said the whole castle… Ginny, what's the time?' Sarah just noticed how much she had been babbling, and as she did so, lanced out the window to where the afternoon had lengthened the shadows right across the grounds.

'Almost six,' Ginny said exasperatedly. 'Did you not even notice the time?' Incredulous, her friend looked at her as if she was losing her mind.

Sarah looked around her, confused. She couldn't quite understand what was going on. Furthermore, if it was indeed almost dinnertime, she had also missed Charms. Scowling, she muttered to Ginny that she would see her in the Great Hall, and left through the portrait hole.

Making her way to the Charms corridor, Sarah ran into Professor Flitwick as he was about to leave for dinner.

'Ah, Miss Williams,' he squeaked. 'We missed you in class today….'

Sarah sighed and did her best to explain, but since she did not understand herself, it was rather difficult.  
All in all, by the time she entered the Great Hall for dinner, she was flustered and annoyed, and the last person she wanted to see was Malfoy, looking pleased with himself.

'What do you want?' she scowled as he blocked her entrance.

'To talk,' he sneered. 'Alone. Without your precious protector.'

'I don't want to talk with you,' she muttered wearily. 'You have nothing to say that would interest me.'

'Do you even know what it is that you can do? What you could do if you chose? Williams, if you knew a quarter of what I do, you would run from this hall, screaming…' he said the last in a low whisper, his eyes glinting with amusement at her ignorance. 'You call him by his name, and yet you know nothing of him, you play with crystals, and yet you know nothing of what they do!'

'Out of my way, Malfoy,' Sarah sighed. 'I don't particularly care for your theories, and I have no interest in talking to you, alone or otherwise.'

Malfoy opened his hands with mock gentility. 'As you wish, Sarah, but I never thought that Hogwarts would allow such dark magic under it's enchanted ceilings. And certainly without even warning she who holds the magic of the dangers involved.'

Sarah pushed past him, doing her best to ignore his jibing tone. She didn't want to think right now. And although what he said sat uncomfortably in the back of her mind, she tried to push the thought away.

Seating herself next to Ginny and Lavender, Sarah sighed as she dished up roast potatoes onto her plate. Ginny looked at her friend in worry, but said nothing, Sarah's face obviously too distant for conversation.

Ignoring the staff table, Sarah ate quickly, not wanting to stay in the same room as so many people for longer than necessary. She knew Jareth was there, watching her, and she could feel his eyes prickling on the back of her neck.

Leaving as soon as she possibly could, she still couldn't escape Malfoy's words. Of course, Jareth had hurt her only a few nights before, without even speaking a word. Curses like that were forbidden in the wizarding world, and he hadn't even given it a second thought. But he had said himself; it was he who was hurting her, not the crystal. Surely the crystals weren't in themselves good or bad, but the will within them that guided them. And with Jareth as their champion, of course crystals would get a bad name. He wasn't exactly known for his kindness. Nor, Sarah thought wryly, was he exactly known. The Fae were an odd race, older than wizards, and held much more aloof. She wondered if they were really immortal, or just old. After all, wizards lived longer than muggles – it made sense that those who came from the beginning of magic would be stronger yet, and live even longer.

She arrived at the portrait hole without quite realizing where she was, and stood in front of it, fuming for a moment. She had lost the better part of a day, and she had no idea how.

'Are you coming in?' The Fat Lady asked haughtily. 'Or are you going to stand in the corridor all night?'

Sarah looked at her blankly, before turning and walking on without a word. The Fat Lady 'harrumphed' behind her.

In a deserted corridor, Sarah took out the crystal. She was near to Jareth's study, that much she knew, and most of the castle was still at dinner.

Setting the crystal on the floor, she watched as it rocked slightly on the spot, before setting off in the direction of his study. Sarah gave a satisfied smile and followed it.

'Enter,' came the cold voice as she knocked. Once again, Sarah entered the tower room she had left only hours before.

'Sarah, what a lovely surprise,' Jareth observed dryly. The crystal rolled towards him, jumping into his hands. Sarah watched it impassively. She wasn't sure why she had come.

'To what do I owe this pleasure? As you can see, I am rather busy, but I granted you your wish, once again, and the crystal led you to me, as you asked.'

Her temper stirring, Sarah frowned. 'I did not ask.'

Jareth smirked, his eyes assessing her darkly. 'You placed the crystal on the ground, knowing that if I allowed it to do so, it would lead you to me. That is probably as near to asking as you will ever get. Certainly you show no other courtesies.'

Sarah ignored the jibe. 'What happened this afternoon that I lost hours of time?'

'You came here.'

'Yes, and after twenty minutes I left, only to find that hours had passed outside this room. Why?'

Jareth did not reply immediately. Instead, he stood, slowly walking around his desk towards her. Determined to show no fear, Sarah let him take her hand and lead her to the window. Imperiously, he swept his hand towards the horizon, and for the first time, Sarah realized what she was looking at. Before her, sprawled in its ramshackle way, was the Goblin City. She opened her mouth in shock, as she realized they were standing at a window of the Goblin Castle at the heart of the Labyrinth, suddenly miles away from Hogwarts.

'This… this is impossible…' she whispered.

'No,' he corrected. 'Here it is as my will. You will not lose time every time you come to this place – unless I will it.'

'You _took_ the time from me?' she cried incredulously.

He sneered. 'I warned you not to be late. Did you truly believe that after you recklessly wasted my time, I would not take some of yours?'

Sarah opened her mouth in indignation, but Jareth cut her off before she could say a word.

'Don't waste your breath, Sarah,' he said harshly. 'I am not in a generous mood, and you should learn I am not to be trifled with. Have you what you wanted?'

She nodded, staring half in longing, half in fear, at the labyrinthine maze before her. Her head spun. She had not set eyes on the Labyrinth for years.

'Could… could you trap me here, if you wished?' she asked, remembering the twisting turns of the maze, its hopeless winding paths that led everywhere and nowhere.

Jareth laughed cruelly, making the hair on the nape of Sarah's neck stand on end.

'Of course,' he said. 'And eventually, I will.'

There was a cold certainty in his voice that chilled Sarah, and at once she decided she had overstayed her welcome – if there had been any welcome at all.

Walking down the stone steps, the crystal safely in her pocket again, Sarah shivered.

* * *

**A/N:**

Once again, an awfully long time coming, but thank you all so much for your faithful reviews!

Love and blessings,

Cariah.


	11. Snow

A/N: I am a VERY slow updater, but I am still writing. Also all characters etc. belong to JK Rowling and Jim Henson.

**An Immortal Magic**

By Cariah Delonne

**Chapter 11**

The weeks began to pass with an almost monotony. Classes came and went, and before Sarah had noticed, it was almost November, and Christmas was just around the corner. If asked, Sarah would not have been able to say how the time passed, except that the late summer had given way to Autumn and finally winter, the first snow falling on Hogwarts grounds late one Friday afternoon.

Sarah was studying in the common room next to the window, her head aching from the amount of work she had to do over the weekend when Ginny entered, her coat sparkling with the first snowflakes on her shoulders, and her eyes ablaze with excitement. 'Sarah, come on! It's snowing! You know how much you love the first snow fall of the season!'

Wistfully, Sarah glanced outside, watching the flakes fall onto the grounds. She did love the first snow – everything slowly becoming blanketed in white, and to be part of it… but she had too much work to do. Shaking her head, she turned back to Ginny, only to find the common room had disappeared. Eyes wide in fright, she flicked her head back to the window. Snow was still falling outside, but the grounds had changed. The hauntingly familiar twistings of the Labyrinth greeted her, snow falling onto the maze delicately, casting the same eerie glow that she so loved about a snowstorm.

Boots sounded behind her, and she stiffened. She did not need to turn to know who stood behind her, and she did not need the confirmation of his voice when he finally spoke. She had been relieved when he had not called her back for a lesson in the last month or so. Their meetings had become much more sporadic since his threat – no, since his declaration – that he would trap her in the Labyrinth. Defence Against the Dark Arts had been no more eventful than their previous teachers had made it, and so the term had continued on as if nothing was unusual about having a Fae Professor in the school. Even Malfoy had backed off, although she suspected his father might have had something to do with that. The Malfoy's certainly seemed to have a healthy fear of Jareth in vast reserves, and with Sarah's newfound sources of magic, that fear seemed to have extended to herself as well. Not that she was complaining.

'I have been rather too occupied to keep up with your education,' Jareth began. It was not an apology, merely an explanation. 'Therefore I decided we might spend some time in the Underground, where time is more… flexible.'

Sarah swallowed. Her previous experiences with his flexibility of temporal elements had not been particularly pleasant.

His boots sounded on the stone floor again as he moved yet closer. She shivered, only to find that her school clothes had been replaced by a dress, reams of satin flowing around her. This was not the dress she had been wearing last time she had been here – this was far from that childhood fantasy, a satin gown that flowed from her waist and accentuated her figure, the neckline hinting at, but not exposing anything. The sleeves were short, and she ran her hands over her arms to warm them up. Back at Hogwarts, she had been wearing a scarf and jumper, fit for the season. This – this was nothing more than Jareth's imagination. That made goosebumps run up her arms even more. He had made it more than clear that he felt nothing but hatred for her. Clothing her in a gown fit for a Queen was not the way you treated someone you hated without a reason.

'Why am I here?' se demanded.

He smirked at her, eyes glinting. 'I haven't brought you here for good, if that is what concerns you Sarah,' he said silkily. 'Last time you saw my Labyrinth was in the height of summer – I thought it time that you saw it during the snow season.'

'I'm surprised you don't hide yourself in your tower and coat it in white all year round,' Sarah said icily. 'You certainly don't waste time on other niceties.'

He watched her coolly. 'That is a reference, I think, from one of your mortal stories. Tell me Sarah, do you think I am the devil?'

She didn't reply. She had only his word that she wasn't stuck here – but she wasn't about to burn all her bridges. After all, she had no idea how to get back – even if people would eventually start asking questions. He could make time stretch here, but he couldn't prolong her absence eternally without arousing some comment. At least, she didn't think so. Surely, at some point, time would need to resume in the mortal world, with or without her return.

Changing the subject, Sarah drew her eyes away from the snowflakes that slowly coated the Labyrinth, turning to face him. 'Did you bring me here for a lesson? Why here?'

He seemed to study her, a smirk on his face. He knew he had the upper hand, and it grated at Sarah that she knew she'd have to bow to him, particularly here. This was where she had beaten him – where she was supposed to have won – and while the mortal world was essentially her own world, this was his.

'Because this is where your magic is at its strongest,' he said softly. 'This is where your magic comes from, and this-' he cast his arm across the Labyrinth, 'is where it naturally flourishes. I thought perhaps you would learn quicker in an environment naturally suited to your form of magic. The mortal world is not so… adaptive, you might say.'

Sarah returned her gaze to the great maze beneath her, but watched him distrustfully out of the corner of her eye. She didn't feel any different, but then, she had not felt any different on the night she had supposedly won her magic. A little empowered by her victory perhaps, but nothing more.

'Create a crystal,' he whispered in her ear, leaning uncomfortably close. Sarah felt her heart leap into her throat from fright, and she turned to face him, only to find his eyes boring deeply into hers. He smiled cruelly, eyes alight with amusement. She got the feeling he was toying with her, as a cat would with a mouse. Stepping away smoothly, Sarah shook her head and moved closer to the window, placing her hands upon the railing and gazing across the snowy landscape.

'Sarah…' Jareth said coolly, his voice like velvet caressing her skin. She felt goosebumps prickle along her arms at his tone, but did not turn to look at him.

'Sarah…' he repeated, 'look at me.'

Reluctantly she turned, staring up at him as he towered over her.

He grinned, his mouth showing his sharp canines as his eyes glinted. 'That dress is rather becoming Sarah, you should really take better care of your appearance.'

Staring at him in shock Sarah could feel her heart beating in her chest. She did not like being in the Underground – it put her all too entirely under Jareth's control. And the thought that her magic would be stronger here did not cheer her – doubtless his own magic would also be more powerful than in the Aboveground. His lean figure was accented by his knee-high boots, seeming to make his legs longer, and his angular features stared down at her expressionlessly. 'But I brought you here for a purpose,' he continued, 'and I asked you to create a crystal. Perhaps if you become used to how much magic one needs to be in order for it to be effective, your studies will be more productive when we return to the Aboveground.'

Holding up her hand, Sarah obeyed, although she felt even more exposed than she usually did, standing in a ball gown in the centre of the Labyrinth, being gazed at by a man she knew to be King of this world.

To her surprise, magic flooded into the crystal, faster and easier than she had ever felt it before. Eyes never leaving hers, Jareth leant forward and plucked the crystal from her fingertips. He smiled at her as he let the crystal roll over his fingertips. Tossing it back to her, his eyes gleamed with triumph. 'Much better. Later we will try putting something into the crystals. This is not as precise as casting a spell – there are no words or enchantments that you will need to memorise.' He created a crystal himself, and blew gently on it before releasing it. Gently, it floated out the window, where it disappeared from sight.

'For today, I want you to concentrate on how much magic it takes to create a single effective crystal. I will warn you now – you will feel the effects of using so much magic when you return to the Aboveground.' He turned on his heel, moving towards the door. 'I will return later.'

Sarah watched him in shock. 'What? Where are you going?'

'I have business to attend to. I will return for you when it is time to return Aboveground. I suggest you use the time wisely. The next time I summon you for a lesson I expect you to know exactly how much of your magic is needed to create a single crystal.'

'You're leaving me here? How do I know you're not going to just trap me here and forget about me?'

He smirked cruelly. 'Do not worry Sarah. That time has not come yet.'

In an instant, he was gone. Sarah watched the slight trickle of glitter fall to the ground with a scowl.

'Wait!' she cried, but it was too late. He was gone.

An hour or more when by – she could not be certain of the time – and Sarah had all but given up on the crystals. She had thought he would return by now, but there was no sign of his coming back. Not long after he had left she had slumped to the ground, creating crystals and figuring out how much of her magic it needed in order to remain solid. It was almost alarming – she could feel the sheer power trickling through her fingers, and wasn't sure if she would be able to command that much control over her magic in the Aboveground. But that was no reason to want to stay here indefinitely. Standing up, she cast her eyes across the Labyrinth again, her eyes seeking anything familiar in the alien landscape. Brushing the dust off her skirt, she gazed thoughtfully towards the door. She was far too high above the ground to think about climbing from the window, but she had not seen Jareth lock the door. There was always a chance.

Expecting him to appear at any moment, Sarah hesitantly reached out to the doorknob, twisting the handle. The catch released beneath her fingers, and she poked her head out into the corridor, still expecting someone to jump out at her, but everything seemed deserted.

Looking back into the room, Sarah smiled to herself before stepping out into the hallway. After all, she'd done what he asked, and now she wanted something else to do. A small voice at the back of her mind chided her for being so reckless, but she pushed it aside. She'd beaten the Labyrinth before, hadn't she?

Making her way through the castle, she stopped at every corner and looked both ways before moving any further, but the whole castle seemed deserted.

It wasn't long before Sarah knew she was lost. Every turning she took looked exactly the same, and there were no rooms, only endless corridors. She couldn't even find the throne room she had run through on her previous visit. No windows, no doors. She tried walking in a straight line, to see if that helped her find a conclusion to these endless hallways, but she got the distinct impression she was walking in circles.

She had come out of a room hadn't she? There had to be more rooms in the castle – she knew there were more rooms in the castle! Why couldn't she find any of them? Tracing her hand along the walls, she tried to find an opening similar to the one the worm had shown her so very long ago. But these were walls, and if they were hiding doors or openings, she couldn't find any, no matter how hard she looked.

She turned a corner, and abruptly stopped, staring up at the Goblin King as he watched her in amusement.

'I was just…'

'Lost?' he asked archly.

Her chin raised a little, that old streak of defiance still running through her. 'Looking for something.'

He raised his eyebrow delicately. 'Is that so. And did you find it?'

'Not yet.'

He nodded sagely, taking a predatory step towards her. 'I should have warned you that my castle does not take kindly to wandering visitors.' He seized her arm, and Sarah gasped at his unyielding grip. Pulling her to him, the world swayed a little before she found herself in a different room, this one lavishly furnished. She did not get a chance to take in her new surroundings before Jareth's voice, steely enough to cut through stone, rang out once more.

'Did you practice at all? I did not bring you here merely to sightsee. I have much better things to do than be at your beck and call.'

Sarah nodded dumbly, holding out a hand and producing a crystal. He watched her, his eyes dark and lips thin with anger. Taking the crystal she held out to him, he gave a small satisfied nod.

'Next time,' he murmured, 'I would not wander around the castle alone. You are lucky it only trapped you, and did nothing more. And while that wouldn't bother me in the least, Dumbledore might be a little put out that my Labyrinth harmed one of his students.'

Sarah didn't reply, but the thought that Dumbledore might stand between her and Jareth was a little comforting, even if she wasn't sure how much the wizard could do. On certain matters, Jareth had the authority to do as he pleased, and he was certainly used to getting his own way.

* * *

Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I know I post very irreguarly, there's not much I can do about that sorry!


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